The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP), Prof. Pat Utomi, yesterday said the violence being experienced in the country is expected.
Speaking in Lagos, he said: “I am not surprised at the renewed spate of violence as we progress towards the election month. We actually asked for it by creating the favourable condition for it.
The citizenry as well as the civil society organisations must take responsibility for allowing public office holders to exercise power without accountability. When we look on politics as an avenue for amassing wealth instead of an arena for service, there is no way we would not have this kind of situation on our hands.
“It is more lucrative and even easier to be a politician than being an armed robber or a 419er. So, all those people that should have been armed robbers and 419ers have rushed into politics.
“Politics should be seen as an arena for public service, a kind of altruistic social responsibility. People that have made their marks in their various callings coming together to give back to the society.
“We should be having people of sterling quality with private means becoming senators and representatives without asking for a kobo from the common purse. We should be having governors that would not collect salaries; ministers that would collect very minimum allowances and perks.
“But what do we have? We have professional politicians, people with no other skills or alternative means of livelihood, who would be useless in any other endeavour, coming into politics and contributing next to nothing to uplift the lives of the people.”
He said until political office was made less financially rewarding, there may be no end to violence.
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Political violence not surprising, says Utomi